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Applying to Balliol

Application procedure

There is a detailed step-by-step guide to application here which we recommend all candidates review in conjunction with the following information.

UCAS application and admissions tests

You need to submit an application through UCAS no later than 6.00pm UK time on 15 October 2017 (to be considered for direct entry in 2018, or deferred entry in 2019). There is more information about the UCAS form here.

Many Oxford courses will also require you to take an admissions test. You must ensure that you have registered for your test no later than 6.00pm on 15 October 2017 in order to be able to take it later in the year.

The only exception is for applicants to Law: you will need to take the LNAT between 1 September and 20 October. You must register by 5 October to guarantee a test slot.

Please note that some courses will require you to take more than one test. These additional tests must be registered for separately.

Written work

Many courses require you to submit written work. Please check whether this applies to your course here. You will need to submit this with a cover sheet for each piece no later than 10 November.

Students who have already gained an undergraduate degree may be admitted to the College to read for an Oxford BA (in which case they may be granted ‘senior status’, which allows the degree to be completed in two years).

Mature students

The entrance process for mature applicants is identical to that for all other applicants. Read more here.

Disability

If you have a disability, we would encourage you to get in touch with the Undergraduate Admissions Office early in the application process, so that we can discuss any reasonable adjustments that may be required. Any disability disclosure will be dealt with confidentially and sensitively and will not influence the admissions process. Your application will be assessed solely on academic merit. Please read more here.

What happens next?

Acknowledgement

Within a few weeks of the deadline

We will send an email to say that we have received your application. For subjects requiring written work (see above) we will explain how you should send it to us.

Shortlisting

1–3 weeks before the timetabled interview dates

There are about six times as many candidates as places available across the University and unfortunately it isn’t possible to interview everyone. Tutors use the information from your UCAS application, any tests and written work (for subjects that require these), and additional contextual data, to assess your application against the selection criteria for your course. After each application has been reviewed, tutors will decide on a shortlist of candidates in late November or early December.

You will receive an email and a letter indicating whether or not you have been invited for interview. You may not receive this until a week before the interviews are due to take place. If you have been invited, the letter will include practical details of your interview and further information.

Interviews

If you are from Europe and you are shortlisted, you will be invited to attend for an interview in Oxford. If you are outside Europe and you are shortlisted, you may also attend for an interview, but if it is not possible for you to come to Oxford we may arrange a telephone, Skype or video conference interview. Our shortlisting procedures do not allow time for candidates who need to obtain a UK visa to get one.

Decision

Shortlisted candidates will be told whether or not their application has been successful in early January 2017, with a letter and an email being sent. If we make you an offer it will be either conditional on achieving certain grades in your exams (see entrance requirements above) or unconditional, if you have already completed your exams and submitted certificates.

Reallocation

A key aim of the admissions procedure is that an applicant’s chance of obtaining a place should as far as possible be independent of the college handling the application, whether the candidate applied to a particular college or made an open application. To assist with this, candidates may be reallocated from the college initially handling their application to another college where the ratio of applicants to places is lower, to ensure the ratio is as constant as possible across the university.

Reallocation occurs after the shortlist of candidates for interview has been drawn up. You may therefore be invited to interview at a different college from that which initially handled your application.

Many applicants will also be interviewed at more than one college, from any one of whom an offer may be forthcoming. In 2015, 26.5% of successful applicants got an offer from a college they hadn’t specified on their application. Reallocated candidates are treated in exactly the same way at interview as other candidates and tutors are interested exclusively in ensuring that the strongest candidates are offered a place at Oxford, regardless of whether or not you applied to their college or made an open application.